Brad Jones
Bradley "Brad" Jones (born 19 March 1982) is an Australian football player who plays for Liverpool as a goalkeeper.He was a member of the Middlesbrough team for over a decade as well as having a number of loan spells at a succesion of lower league clubs; Stockport County,Rotherham United,Blackpool and Sheffield Wednesday,he also had a brief loan spell in Ireland with Shelbourne.In August 2010,he made a 2.3M move to Liverpool.In March 2011,after only two games with the Reds,he joined Derby County on loan until the end of the season. 'Personal Information' Full Name:Bradley Jones Date of birth:19 March 1982 (30 years old) Place of birth:Armadele,Pirth,Australia. Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Playing position:Goalkeeper 'Club Information' Current club:Liverpool Number:1 'Youth Career' 1997-1999 Bayswater Club 1999-2001 Middlesbrough 'Senior Career' 2001-2010 Middlesbrough Apps(57) 2010- Liverpool Apps(6) 'International Career' 2007- Australia Apps(3) 'Club Career' 'Early Carrier ' Jones was born in Armadele,Perth,Western Australia to English parents. He attended John Curtin Senior Highschool, graduating in 1998. Jones signed for Bayswater City SC in Western Australia. 'Middlesbrough' He was then signed by Middlesbrough after he was released by Norwich City, playing in their youth system, and signed a professional contract in March 1999. He made his first team debut in the FA Cup third round against Notts County in 2004 and later that season won a League Cup winners medal. He had loan spells at several clubs; in the 2001-02 season he played two games for Irish club side Shelbourne F.C. He made his League of Ireland debut on 5 October against local rivals Bohemians at Dalymount Park and conceded 4 goals in a 6-4 victory one of which was direct from his own goal kick. His only other appearence for the club came one week later in a 3-1 home victory against Monaghan United. Later he had loan spells at Stockport County and Blackpool. In the 2005-06 season, playing for Middlesbrough, Jones saved a penalty taken by Ruud van Nistelrooy which left the match against Manchester United level at 0-0. In August 2006, Jones was loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday for a period of three months. He made a somewhat up-and-down start to his loan spell, making some vital saves as well as conceding penalties in succesive games against Plymouth Angle and Leeds United. On 21 October, his own fan turned him down and attacked him by throwing coins and other missiles during the home game against Queens Park Rangers. With his mentor Mark Schwarzer moving to Fulham, Jones become the first choice keeper at Middlesbrough. He picked up and injury in the second game of the 2008-09 season and subsequently missed the next two games. Jones regained his place in the Middlesbrough first team in January 2009 and remained first choice as Middlesbrough were relegated from the Premier League. Another pre-season injury saw him miss the start of the season but he regained his place after new signing Danny Coyne conceded 5 against West Bromwich Albion. He remained in the Boro side for the rest of the season, although they failed to gain promotion from the Championship. 'Liverpool' On 17 August 2010, Jones joined Liverpool in a deal worh 2.3M pounds. He qualifies as a "home-grown" player under the new Premier League rules.On 19 August, Jones watched Liverpool's UEFA Europa League play-off 1st leg tie at Anfield from the director's box, along with captain Steven Gerrard, Emilliano Insua, Alberto Aquilani and Dirk Kuyt. He was handed the number 1 jersey after goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri left the club on 23 August, ahead of Liverpool's clash with Manchester City. Jones made his unofficial debut in Jamie Carragher's testimonial against Everton XI and impressed with a string of saves. Jones made his debut for Liverpool in the League Cup 3rd Round tie against Northampton Town on 23 August 2010. The game ended 2-2 after extra-time before Liverpool lost on penalties. A couple of weeks later, Jones injured his shoulder in training and was be out for up to a month. Reserve goalkeeper Martin Hansen took his place on the bench until Jones was back fit as Liverpool's other backup goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi was on loan at nearby club Tranmere Rovers. He made his second start for the club on 15 December 2010 in a Europa League game against Utrecht, getting his first clean sheet for the Reds and becoming the first player to wear a snood in a competitive fixture. Unfortunately for Jones this was to be his last game of the 2010-11 season. 'Derby County (loan)' At the end of March, Jones joined Derby County on loan for the remainder of the 2010-11 season. Jones made his debut in a 4-1 loss to Cardiff City and went on to concede 16 goals in his 7 games at Derby, including another four against Burley (2-4) and three against Norwich (2-3). He came in for criticism from Derby manager Nigel Clough after his mistake let Bristol City take an early lead in Derby's final home game of the season and eventually lost 2 nil. It turned out to be Jones last game as he was an unused substitued in Derby's 2-1 defeat at Reading on the last day of the Championship season before returning to Liverpool, after being replaced by Academy goalkeeper Ross Adkins. 'Return to Liverpool' His first Premier League match for Liverpool came on 10 April 2012, in a 3-2 away win against Blackburn Rovers. Jones came off the bench in the 26th minute after second choice keeper Doni had been sent off for fouling Junior Hoilett in the penalty area. Jones saved the resulting penalty, taken by Yakubu and celebrated by pointing to the sky in dedication to his late son, Luca. Liverpool went on to win the game 2-3 with injury time winner from Andy Carroll. He played in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton at Wembley, due to the suspension of Doni and first choice keeper Pepe Reina; Liverpool went on to win the game 2-1 thanks to strikes from Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. Jones made his first appearence of the 2012-13 season in a UEFA Europa League qualifier against Gomel on 2 August, Liverpool won the game 0-1. His second appearence came on 20 September in a 5-3 away win against BSC Young Boys in the Europa League group stage. Jones also helped Liverpool progress in the Capital One Cup in a 2-1 win against West Brom on 26 September. His first Premier League start came on 20 October, against Reading, which Liverpool won 1-0. On 25 October, Jones played his third Europa League game against Anzhi Makhachkala, keeping yet another clean sheet as Liverpool won 1-0. Three days later he played in Liverpool's 2-2 draw against Everton in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. On 31 October, Liverpool played Swansea City in the Capital One Cup which Liverpool lost 3-1. Jones continued to start in goal for Liverpool after their 1-1 draw with Newcastle United on 4 November. Liverpool played against Anzhi on 8 November in a Europa League group stage match and lost 1-0 after a 46th minute chip goal from Lacina Traore. November seemed to be Jones' month after another start on 11 November against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. Due to his excellent performance Jones was rewarded and signed a new contract with Liverpool on 21 December. 'International Career' Jones recieved his first senior international call-up for Australia on 5 February 2007 to replace Mark Schwarzer in a friendly match. He made his first senior international start on 2 June 2007 against Uruguay. He was at fault for Australia losing that match after dropping a routine catch allowing Alvaro Recoba to score an easy goal. He was part of Australia's debut campaign in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, but he did not feature in any of their matches. Additionally, he was selected as one of the three goalkeeperes in Australia's final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but he left the squad to return to his family following news of his son being diagnosed with leukemia and he did not return to the tournament. 'Personal Life' Jones is in a long-term relationship with his girlfriend Dani Lawrence. His six-year old son Luca Jones, from a previous relationship, died on 18 November 2011 after a year-long battle with leukemia. Liverpool's players and staff wore black armbands as a mark of respect in their subsequent 2-1 victory over Chelsea; his old teammates at Middlesbrough also wore armbands as a mark of respect. Dani gave birth to Brad's second son Nico in April 2012. Category:Sport